1997 850 T5 Strange Locking issue

[highmilevolvo]

Hi,

If I unlock my car with the key fob (one press to unlock driver's door), sit down, leave the door open or close it, and just sit there, all the doors will lock within 30 seconds. And if I try to start the car, it wont start and the alram will sound. If I unlock all the doors and do the same thing, it takes 2 minutes then all the doors lock. But, if I do the same thing, and open the passenger side door, the doors will not auto-lock themselves.

I also notice that when you open the driver's side door, the dome lights don't come on, just the floor lights. The passenger door will trigger the dome lights just fine.

So, what it seems is that some sort of sensor doesn't recognize that the driver's side door opens, so it then it re-locks itself.

I was talking to some people on another forum and it was suggested I replace the Central Locking Relay. I have one so I will try that.

But, if that is not the cause, then does anyone know where the sensors are in the driver's side door that would detect the door opening and trigger the dome lights?

Thank you

[Ozark Lee]

The problem you described would be typical of a bad microswitch in the driver's side door lock. Unfortunately the switch isn't available as its own part so the standard procedure is to replace the latch assembly. I have fixed a couple of them by gluing a shim on the switch striker surface but on a couple of others I have had to just bite the bullet and buy a new latch.

...Lee

[phils94850]

I also.. ran into a issue where my doors would lock by themselves and it ended up being a wiring issue where the harness pass through the body and into the door, drivers side of course, id say its the one used the most.